Abel Tasman may start in Zenyatta Stakes next
DEL MAR, Calif. - Abel Tasman, the champion 3-year-old filly of 2017 and the winner of two Grade 1 races at Belmont Park and Saratoga in June and August, may start in the Grade 1 Zenyatta Stakes at Santa Anita on Sept. 30.
Trainer Bob Baffert said over the weekend that Abel Tasman emerged from a hard-fought win in the $671,000 Personal Ensign Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 25 in excellent condition. The Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Churchill Downs on Nov. 3 is the main goal of the autumn for Abel Tasman.
“She could show up in the Zenyatta,” Baffert said. “She came back good. She’s sharp.”
If she starts, Abel Tasman is expected to be favored in the $300,000 Zenyatta Stakes, which is run at 1 1/16 miles. Unique Bella, the champion female sprinter of 2017, had the role of leading older female in Southern California until last month, when she was retired because of a sesamoid injury.
Abel Tasman won the Personal Ensign Stakes by a neck over Elate after the two dueled through the final furlong. Abel Tasman won the Ogden Phipps Stakes at Belmont Park on June 9.
Owned by China Horse Club International and Clearsky Farm, Abel Tasman has won 8 of 14 starts and earned $2,787,385. By Quality Road, Abel Tasman has won six Grade 1 races.
Trainer Michael McCarthy fined
Trainer Michael McCarthy was fined $500 by Del Mar stewards Saturday for failing to notify racing officials that Liam the Charmer was racing as a gelding for the first time when entered in the Wickerr Stakes on July 22.
Liam the Charmer was withdrawn from the Wickerr Stakes because the information that he had been gelded was not conveyed in a timely matter. Liam the Charmer won his only subsequent start in an allowance race with a $100,000 claiming option at Del Mar on Aug. 16 in his first start since an 11th in the Grade 2 Del Mar Handicap in August 2017.
In another ruling published Saturday, veterinarian Nicola Hardgrove was fined $750 for submitting an inaccurate and late veterinarian report to racing officials on July 20.
